Wills Solicitors’ New Call to Safeguard Digital Assets

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Internet bank and savings accounts, bitcoins, betting accounts, social media profiles – all these online assets and intellectual property could all be lost if the owners die without passing on the details. Solicitors are anxious that these assets should be preserved but are warning people to be careful how they go about it.

Wills and power of attorney solicitor Stuart Bradford, an Associate at Coles Miller

Each successive generation will leave a larger digital footprint – creating more potential difficulties for bereaved relatives when it comes time to go through their effects.

Poole, Dorset (PRWEB UK)25 April 2014

Internet bank and savings accounts, bitcoins, betting accounts, social media profiles – all these online assets and intellectual property could all be lost if the owners die without passing on the details.

Solicitors are anxious that these assets should be preserved (1) but are warning people to be careful how they go about it.

A will becomes a public document when a grant of probate is issued so Coles Miller is urging people not to write their online account passwords in them.

Instead the solicitors recommend listing passwords and what should happen to social media and other online accounts in private information documents that the law firm can store securely with the wills.

People should leave clear instructions about what should happen to their online accounts after their death and how the platforms can accessed so their instructions can be carried out.

Like wills, these private information documents should be reviewed regularly to ensure that they remain current and are still in keeping with the owner’s financial and family circumstances.